ITF Unions in Maersk
Maersk to slash Taiwan port operations
25 July 2008
Cutting half of its TEU capacity in Kaohsiung.
Maersk plans to give up two out of its four berths in Kaohsiung when the contract ends in October, according to Reuters.
Taiwan’s 143-year-old container port Kaohsiung has been losing ground steadily to fast-growing rivals in South Korea and China. Maersk is Kaohsiung’s largest foreign operator and this latest blow means that the port will further decline in its position as one of Asia’s top ports.
Maersk's throughput in Kaohsiung went down last year after the company moved some volume to terminals in Xiamen port, across the Taiwan Strait in China.
The Harbour Bureau is hoping to persuade Maersk to keep at least some of its capacity close to the remaining two berths. The Bureau argues that will help the company cut costs.
Maersk intends to give up berths 118 and 119, which have a capacity of 900,000 teu a year. Berth 75 could move more than 500,000 teu if it worked alongside Maersk's remaining berths 76 and 77, which together could have capacity of one million teu a year.
The Harbour Bureau’s proposal includes relocating South Korea's Hyundai to the two berths currently used by Maersk.
Talks are scheduled to be concluded in August.
Kaohsiung’s growth slowed to three per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2008, from about five per cent to 10.26 million teu for the whole of 2007.
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